US Planning to Station Nuclear Weapons in UK Amid Tensions With Russia - Reports
INGThe United States intends to once again station nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom amid increased tensions with Russia, The Telegraph reported on Friday. | The United States intends to station nuclear warheads at the Royal Air Force’s Lakenheath base, the report said, citing Defense Department documents. Washington removed its nuclear weapons from the United Kingdom in 2008 after having stationed them there during the Cold War. ● The United States is expected to station B61-12 gravity bombs, which are three times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, at the Lakenheath base, the report said. ● Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that the Kremlin would view the deployment of US nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom as an escalatory action.
■ NATO’s planned drills near Russian borders increase risk of military incidents — MFA | "The maneuvers [of Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024] are openly provocative in nature. For several months, a 90,000-strong group of forces from 31 NATO member countries, as well as Sweden, will be actively operating near Russian borders on the territory from Norway to Romania. This step is deliberately aimed at escalating things. It increases the risk of military incidents and could ultimately lead to tragic consequences for Europe," she said. (TASS)